The Juno Doll Pattern from Planet Applique has made doll artist Laura Allen's life a lot easier! She's been an avid follower on our facebook groups and has shared photos of her inspiration creations. Laura Allen is a mother of 3 who runs a business called, Cutieful Creations, based out of Australia selling her dolls and other items.

Wondering if Laura had any previous history making other kinds of dolls, we asked if she had any prior experience. "I started my business nearly 5 years ago. I wanted to buy my son (then 3) a cowboy doll and couldn’t find anything I liked so I started looking into making one instead. I’ve done many years of cross stitch growing up, and my Mum is a patch worker/dressmaker/all around brilliant sewer so sewing was in my blood but neither of us had ever done machine embroidery. I bought my first embroidery machine to play with…now I own 4 of them!", said Laura.

We asked Laura what inspires her to keep making cloth Juno Dolls. She said, "I love creating such special and unique keepsakes for my customers. I love getting photos of my littlest customers playing and loving their dolls!"

Laura says that there are a few things that can make it difficult to be creative. "Enough hours in the day! I am also a farmer/farmers wife and have three young children, all boys. I always feel like I’m way behind! In Australia, also the biggest challenge I faced was being able to source my supplies! It’s taken lots of research to find where to buy everything I need, as much as I love supporting Australia I have had to order from overseas for quite a few things as I just couldn’t source what I wanted here!"

Because Planet Applique's Juno doll is made on an embroidery machine, we asked Laura how the construction is different from a traditional sewing machine. "I love doing both - but the embroidery machine leaves a beautiful professional finish on the likes of faces and also gives you the ability to add personalized name embroidery etc. It also allows you to consistently produce the same item - ie your sizing on your arms/legs are exactly the same every time. It also allows you to multitask - I have often been sewing on my machine alongside my embroidery machine while it’s stitching out body parts."

Laura has also found unique processes to make her life more efficient. She says, "Assembly line work for sure for myself. I work in huge batches of dolls - so I stitch out 50 sets of arms and legs at a time or stitch 50 faces etc. I find this way so much more time productive. Then I assemble them all, stuff them all, close them etc! I also pre-cut huge piles of my doll jersey and fleece ready for use. "  Laura has put a lot of thought into what could make her life easier. "More time!! I honestly love how the dolls are made now, I have had my husband make a tool for me to use for assembling joints which has made things heaps quicker and easier! Handsewing and wig attachment take a lot of time - if there was a way to have less handsewing or easier wig attachment (trust me, I’m thinking on this a lot!)"

Laura Allen's Doll Making Space is compact and organized.

Laura makes accessories for her dolls and works closely with her mother. "I make everything except for the dummies and the socks. I buy those in bulk from overseas. I made all the doll, the nappies, clothing, hair bows. I do buy the headbands that I sew the bows to and teddies to go with them. I do work with my amazingly talented mother who does all the clothes sewing now. I started but quickly couldn’t keep up, so we work together."

Being in Australia poses some obstacles when it comes to finding supplies. "I have such a list! Probably shopping for the fabrics I use for all the clothing is the best part! I looove my fabrics. We have some amazing fabric online stores in Australia - Fabric by Missy Rose, Fabric Trove, Little Fabric Boutique, The Fabric Space, Fabric Haven…so many!! I also love fabric.com for their fur range for hair!!"

Laura feels rewarded most at the end of the doll making process. "Seeing them come together at the end, I do enjoy all of it though. I enjoy stitching them out, assembling, I enjoy the handsewing because I don’t have to think about it. Probably seeing them all dressed and taking their photos though is the best part because it’s all the work and time finally coming together!"

We asked Laura if there was any advice she could give others who maybe have never tried making a cloth Juno doll. "Try one!! I get asked so much about how I get my dolls to look the way they do. It’s all been practice. I didn’t have anyone really teach me how to use my machines or make dolls, I just dove it and started trailing them. I learnt from my mistakes and improved and made mistakes and improved again! Don’t be afraid to try! I have tried many things and gotten disheartened but I tried again to get where I am now!" said Laura.

We want to thank Laura so much for the time she took out of her very busy schedule to share her story and her beautiful cloth dolls with us!  Time is a commodity that she has been very careful with in her doll making journey.